A Secret Past
by slaygurl
Summary: Everyone has a past. Some never want you to know it. If you're lucky you will get to keep your secrets. But in the world of espionage, terrorism and national security, your skeletons often emerge from the closet. Nell's past is not all pretty and it is coming back to haunt her.
1. Chapter 1

A Secret Past

Everyone has a past. Some never want you to know it. If you're lucky you will get to keep your secrets. But in the world of espionage, terrorism and national security, your skeletons often emerge from the closet. Nell's past is not all pretty and it is coming back to haunt her.

Chapter 1

A/N – I recently read a spoiler about Nell for Season 8 and it gave me a bout of inspiration. It indicated that we would find out she is a bit of a badass, so I decided I would attempt to give her some sort of badass past. So this is what I came up with, I like the idea, I hope that you enjoy it too.

I don't own them, I'm just borrowing them like the rest of us. I have no BETA so all mistakes are mine.

Like my other story I am really nervous to post, so please don't be too harsh. Constructive criticism is more than welcome.

So please read and review.

Nell was in line at her local coffee shop waiting for her morning caffeine fix when she saw it, the black sedan. At first she thought that she was just being paranoid, but this was the fourth time they had crossed paths. It didn't follow her to work but she kept coming across it. She didn't know who was behind the wheel because the windows were blacked out. Now that she was almost convinced it was following her she finally gave in and surreptitiously photographed the number plate on her phone to try and find out who it was and if she really had reason to be worried.

Deciding she would get a head start on the day she made her way to the office, taking a roundabout route and making sure to check that the suspicious vehicle did not follow. To her relief it stayed put.

When she entered the mission she was pleased to find that it was almost empty, only a few of the night staff loitering about.

She quietly made her way up to the empty ops centre and signed into her station. Wasting no time, she entered the cars details into the DMV database to try and determine its owner and put to rest what she hoped was just her overactive mind. Frustratingly it came back with no match.

Before she could make any more inquiries into the matter she was interrupted by the arrival of her partner.

"Morning Nell, you're here early." Said Eric.

With a smile she stealthily shut down her search window and replied

"I've only been here for about ten minutes so really the same could be said for you. What brings you here early?"

"I have to catch up on some of the work that I didn't get done last night,"

"Well I guess that we had the same idea then."

Eric nodded and then turned his attention toward his own terminal.

Turning back to her own computer her mind drifted back to the strange car. Getting no result on a search while unusual was not unheard of. Maybe she was just paranoid, this job could make you that way sometimes and it wasn't like she was without enemies.

Sighing she put it out of her head and started to read through the latest intelligence reports to get up to date on the most current information. She really didn't have any work to catch up on and now with Eric here she couldn't continue her search for answers so she made herself look busy so as to not draw his attention.

It was a long and boring day at work. There were no new cases so everyone was pretty much stuck behind their desks catching up on the dreaded paperwork side of their jobs. It was a big relief when Hetty entered the bullpen late that afternoon.

"Since everyone is now up to date on their paperwork you are free to leave. Have a good weekend." She said before returning to her office.

A chorus of 'Thank-you Hetty' was heard before everyone quickly began to pack up their belongings. It wasn't often that they got an early reprieve so no one was going to stick around and let her have a chance to change her mind.

"Who is up for some drinks?" asked Deeks.

"If you're buying" said Sam.

With an exaggerated sigh he replied

"I suppose the first round can be on me."

"Then I am in" said Sam.

"Me too," said Callen quickly followed by Kensi and Eric.

"What about you Nell?" asked Kensi.

Realising that she had zoned out and all eyes had landed on her, she quickly replied.

"Sure, why not." Figuring a drink might be a nice distraction, she followed the group out of the mission.

They were all squashed into a booth at one of their favourite bars. The night was filled with light hearted banter. A relatively crime free couple of weeks had everyone feeling as carefree as a group of federal agents could be.

Whilst Nell joined in on the fun as best she could she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Her unusual behaviour didn't go unnoticed by Callen.

He gently nudged her arm and asked in a concerned tone

"Nell, Is everything alright? You seem a bit distracted."

With what she hoped was a reassuring smile she replied

"Everything's fine Callen, just getting a bit tired I guess,"

He raised his eyebrows a little in disbelief. He opened his mouth to reply when her phone indicated an incoming message.

Nell looked at the screen and frowned slightly at the message she had received from an unknown number. It was BLANK.

"That's strange," she murmured to herself.

"What is strange?" asked Callen.

"It is just a blank message from an unknown number," she paused and with a shrug continued "guess it is just a wrong number".

Callen looked her seemingly unconvinced. She looked back at him and said "Nothing to be worried about,"

He reluctantly conceded and re-joined the groups discussion. But his questioning looks during the rest of the evening didn't go unnoticed by Nell.

After a night of drinking, a spontaneous group dinner and good company they all headed home with the promise of seeing each other bright and early again on Monday.

The remainder of Nell's weekend was uneventful. No more car sightings and no more strange text messages. She was feeling much more at ease when she arrived at the mission again on Monday. And it remained that way for another blissful, few weeks. But at the beginning of August this all came crashing down around her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A/N - Thanks for the few reviews, favourites and follows I have so far. They are great inspiration to continue. I hope to hear from more of you in the future – Hint Hint .

I don't own them. All mistakes are mine. Please read and review!

To the majority of the world August 2nd is just another day of the year. And up until seven years ago that was the same for Nell. Now it is a stark reminder of her life before NCIS. A time when her life nearly ended and at the hands of a man that she worked with and trusted with her life every day.

She never thought that she would see him again. She SHOULDN'T have to see him again. Because he should be rotting away behind bars in a Federal Prison for the rest of his life. But there he was standing 20 metres away from her next to a black sedan across from her favourite local deli. Nell shook herself from her frozen posture and made sure to melt into the small crowd, hoping that he hadn't already seen her she slipped away to the relative safety of her car. She couldn't help the tears that came to her eyes.

 _ **Flashback**_

 _ **Moscow, Russia 2009**_

 _ **Nell bit her lip to stop from screaming as a searing pain tore through her side.**_ _ **She**_ _ **pulled her bloodied hands away from the newly acquired bullet wound**_ _ **s**_ _ **. She couldn't believe that he had actually pulled the trigger. She had closed her eyes as his footsteps had come closer. Trying to relax herself to the point he thought she was dead, so he didn't try and finish the job. If she couldn't it would all be over.**_

Nell was shocked back to the present by a beeping horn. Unconsciously her hand had moved to where her clothes hid the scars of that terrible day.

She wiped the stray tears.

Pulling herself together she turned the ignition of her car and carefully joined in the chaos of the morning rush hour of Los Angeles. She needed to get to the office, she needed the person who gave her an opportunity to start over, to get away from the physical and emotional scars left by that man. Hetty could and would help her.

She rushed into the mission and making a beeline for her boss's desk. Unfortunately, she was only greeted by an empty desk. Overcome with a sense of panic she had to take a seat for a moment to collect herself. After a few minutes she gathered her things and went upstairs to figure out a plan of action.

Nell sat silently just staring at her blank computer screen as she struggled to figure out what to do next. Suddenly she heard her phone beep. The screen showed an unknown number, the same number that had contacted her with a message weeks before. Reluctantly she opened the message. A cold shiver ran down her back as she read its contents.

"Счастливый годовщину которой , Наталья."

(Happy Anniversary Natalya.)

Overcome with a surge of latent anger she decided to vent. Getting up quickly, she headed to the firing range where she proceeded to tear to shreds target after target.

Unbeknownst to her she gained an audience who was quietly watching her bout of destruction with inquiring eyes. As she emptied her final clip, Nell lay down her weapon and removed the hearing protection, the figure made themselves known.

Trying not to startle her Callen's voice broke the silence.

"I didn't know that you could shoot like that Nell."

Nell whipped around to face him.

"What?"

"I've never seen you shoot like that; you are really tearing them apart."

"I guess."

"You guess." He said with a slight laugh. Taking down one of her targets and looking at her through the single massive hole in the middle. "There is practically nothing left."

"Just venting a little frustration."

"Well if this is you frustrated, remind me to never piss you off."

This brought a small smile to her face. "Perish the thought."

"So what has you frustrated enough for this path of destruction?"

She just answered with a non-committal shrug before interrupting his attempted reply with a question.

"Have you seen Hetty arrive yet?"

A little shocked at the abrupt subject change he answered

"She got here just as I did,"

"Thanks, I need to see her. See you later." She brushed past him making her way out of the shooting range.

Callen's eyes followed her in confusion. He was getting the distinct feeling that something wasn't right. He took another look at the pile of destroyed targets with a frown. Sighing he put them all in the bin and headed back toward the bullpen.

"Good morning Miss Jones." Said Hetty as she saw the young woman approach her.

"Hetty, I have a problem."

The serious edge to her voice captured the old spy's complete attention.

"What is the matter dear?"

"I am fairly certain that I saw Stephan Markov this morning."

"WHAT?"

"I was picking up some food from the deli near my place on my way to work this morning when I saw him. But I think that it may have been going on for a little longer. A couple of weeks ago I thought that a car may have been following me. Add to that a strange text from an unknown number. At first I thought that I had just been paranoid because it stopped after a few days. But now with seeing him this morning and a text message from the same unknown number saying "Happy Anniversary, Natalya". How is he back? He should still be locked up." Nell rushed out.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"Like I said it only lasted a couple of days and I had no reason to believe that it had anything to do with my past until this morning. But it has to be him, very few people knew about what happened and those that do are either bound by secrecy or criminals that should be nowhere to be found."

"Take a breath Nell."

"Sorry."

"It is quite alright. Now this is what is going to happen. I am going to make some phone calls and see if I can found out what is going on. Are there any cameras near the deli?

"There should be."

"Well please check and see if you can get a photo for identification. Don't run it through any recognition programs, we don't want to throw up any red flags just yet. I will make some discreet inquiries. Rest assured we will figure this out Nell."

Nell just nodded, knowing it was the truth.

"I know that this day is always a trying one for you. And the events of this morning must have been a shock. Try not to let it get to you, you are a very strong woman. You wouldn't be where you are or achieved all you have in your life if you weren't. This will all work out."

"Thank-you."

"Your most welcome. Now get me that photo and leave the rest to me."

With a nod and tentative smile Nell turned and made her way upstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N – I know that this one is REALLY short but I just needed something to kind of bridge a gap. It didn't seem to fit with the end of the previous chapter or the start of the next one. So rather than sit and stare trying to jam it somewhere it doesn't belong I am going to just post this bit so I can move forward. I am not 100% happy but I think I will stay stalled unless I let it go. Fingers crossed the next one comes more easily.

So here goes.

All mistakes are mine, Please read and review!

Callen watched with interest from across the room. Although he couldn't hear what was being said. The body language of the two women was most definitely tense. The feeling in his gut churned. It was bad enough when he thought something was up with Nell but add into the equation an obviously concerned Hetty and the stakes began to rise.

Walking into the bullpen, Sam interrupted his moments of silent contemplation.

"Morning."

"Morning Sam."

Noticing his partners distracted behaviour he asked,

"Everything alright G?"

He took a few seconds to consider his answer.

"I'm not sure. I think something is up with Nell and possibly Hetty."

Sam briefly glanced over toward the lady in charges office.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, for Nell it actually started a couple of weeks ago. There were a few days there where she was really distracted. And during that team night we had, she received a strange text that seemed to have her a little on edge."

"Did you ask her what was up?" Sam inquired.

"Yeah, she shrugged it off, said it was nothing, that she was just getting tired."

"And you didn't buy it."

Callen stole a quick glance toward Hetty's office before returning his attention to his partner,

"Well not really but what could I say really?"

"And what has you worried now?"

"Well for one this morning, when I got in I heard rapid gunfire from the range. I was curious as to who it was. It was Nell and she was tearing through targets. I don't know how many she went through before I got there, but she destroyed four while I was outside. I have never seen her do anything like it. Sure I knew she could shoot, but this was different. And then she brushed me off when I asked about it. Finally, she just got through with what looked like a VERY tense meeting with Hetty."

"You sure you're not reading too much into things."

Callen shrugged, "I don't know, maybe. Something just doesn't seem right."

Sam too glanced across in the direction of Hetty's office. But to him she didn't seem any different than usual. Then again she was the Duchess of Deception. Anything was possible.

"I guess that we will just have to wait and see. You know that they won't cough up any information unless they want to."

Callen gave a little huff of frustration leaning back and looking at the ceiling.

"I know"


End file.
